Kent Bush: True libertarianism doesn’t work here

Friday

May 21, 2010 at 12:01 AMMay 21, 2010 at 8:14 PM

Rand Paul's libertarian leanings helped him dispose of a Republican insider in Kentucky's GOP Senate primary Tuesday. But the sun hadn't even set on his huge win before the Republican showed that he might just be Libertarian to a fault.

But the sun hadn't even set on his huge win before the Republican showed that he might just be Libertarian to a fault.

The small government, low taxes, and personal liberty platform of Libertarians has grown in popularity in conservative circles lately thanks to the Obama administration's expansion of government into the health care field and the fear that growing deficits and national debt will lead to increases in the tax burden of American citizens.

But Dr. Paul has shown why true libertarianism hasn't caught on in the American electoral system. It's a great idea that doesn't really work in an American framework.

American ideals are held up by the pillars of freedom and equality. In fact, modern Americans have shown a commitment to yielding some personal freedom to insure true equality.

Even with that foundation, it took almost 200 years to get women the right to vote and move us closer to racial equality.

Dr. Paul is probably one of the least bigoted people around. But his political policies would allow civil rights to be dialed back 50 years.

He is incredibly clear that the government should take no part in institutionalized racism or discrimination. He is also clear that he would not go to private restaurants or belong to clubs that discriminate against people due to gender or race.

But due to the Republican's libertarian predisposition, he refuses to say it would be wrong to have segregation in privately owned businesses.

"You have to decide whether the government owns the business or if the owner of the business owns his own business," Paul said, when questioned about his beliefs on the matter.

You really don't.

A business owner has rights. But those rights end when they begin to infringe on the freedom of others to live equally in our society.

Paul says he is against institutionalized discrimination. However, by not stepping in to regulate certain behaviors, the government is, in fact, authorizing discrimination.

All citizens pay their fair share of taxes.

Those taxes provide police officers when the restaurant is robbed and firefighters when the kitchen is ablaze. Those taxes also pave the roads that help the customers of all colors and creeds make their way to the restaurant.

Under Dr. Paul's plan, a black person might be prohibited from patronizing the restaurant but forced to protect it if they worked as a public servant.

Ideals have to work in practice. In this instance, Paul's platform is a few planks short.

He has gone from a virtual lock for a seat in the Senate to an unknown commodity overnight.

How can a business in Kentucky put a sign in the window or donate to his campaign without raising the specter that they might hope he wins because they want to have the right to discriminate?

But the candidate won't back down from his beliefs.

"We tolerate boorish and uncivilized behavior because that is one of the things that freedom requires," Dr. Paul said.

He forgets, however, that we prohibit discriminatory actions because that is one of the things equality requires.